Chapter 3

I'm Fine!

It wasn't until they reached the detention center that Maya was able to breathe easily again. The horror stories, the stuff she regarded merely as exaggerations of Apollo's bad driving, were absolutely true. He kept his promise and obeyed the speed limit, but that was about it. No usage of turn signals, no stopping at stop signs, he even ran every red light they came across. As she stepped out of the car, thankful to be in one piece, she couldn't help but wonder in amazement how Apollo had not had his license taken away yet and how he had not killed himself yet.

"See, it wasn't that bad, right Maya?" The lack of color in her face was all the answer he need. "Everyone's a critic."

They had been in the detention center so many times over the years, the guards on duty knew them by name and let them in to see Trucy almost immediately. The guards also expressed their condolences for the loss of Phoenix, many of them having known him in life.

Trucy was behind the glass window when they entered the room, a smile on her face. Apollo was relieved to see her smiling. She was a tough girl, but being arrested must have taken a toll on her. Her eyes, normally shining with energy and cheer, were dull with exhaustion. She greeted them happily as they took a seat on their side of the glass.

"So don't keep me waiting!" She jumped right to the chase. "Tell me what you've learned! You have learned something, right?"

Apollo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, to be honest, it isn't much…"

"But it's something!" Maya interjected, voice filled with optimism.

They proceeded to tell her about what they had done since she left. The mention that someone had taken one of her magician's hats to frame her made her visibly angry. "I mean, take my glove, okay. Take my hat and that's crossing the line!" She wasn't mad that she had been framed for the murder of her own father but at the fact that someone had taken one of her magicians hats. Apollo couldn't help but smile.

"It was basically a day of little breakthroughs," Maya concluded. "But there was one big thing we found, right Apollo?"

He nodded in agreement, although if he was being honest with himself, he had forgotten about it. "Trucy, we found a briefcase under your father's desk. It was full of official records and articles about the Phantom- the UR-1 incident, Bobby Fulbright's autopsy report, stuff like that. Do you know anything about that?"

Her gasp of shock confirmed Apollo's suspicions. "No, I had no idea about that!"

"Is there anything you can tell us, Truce?" Maya asked.

Trucy's eyes drifted to the ceiling as she quietly thought. A few moments of silence later, her face lit up in realization. "Well there have been some times when I've come home without announcing my arrival and he'd be down at the police department without actually having a case at the time."

"And how do you know he was at the police department?" Apollo raised a brow. They were actually getting somewhere, much to his surprise.

"I'd ask him after he got home. Daddy was really honest with me with just about everything but...on those days he would act really weird. Like he was hiding something." She shrugged. "It never bothered me too much though."

"Nick was definitely hiding something from us. But why?" Maya sounded betrayed and Apollo couldn't help but agree a bit. Phoenix had been his boss. Athena's too. And he never told anyone about this. They were supposed to be coworkers and he had kept something this big from them. His mind began to race, thinking of possibilities and explanations but coming to no sound conclusions.

"So Trucy, how have you been?" Maya's question snapped him out of his daze. He realized guiltily he had never asked his sister how she had doing since her arrest.

He felt better when he heard her laugh. "I've been doing fine, Mommy. Don't you worry! It's been a long day, for everyone here." She cast a glance over to Apollo. "Hey you okay Polly? You look kind of down."

"Uh…" She had seen right through him. "I'm just nervous about tomorrow's trial is all. Just your standard pre-trial jitters."

"Apollo," Maya looked at him in disbelief, "for a living lie detector, you're a horrible fibber." Trucy snorted and Apollo glared at both of them, but ended up sighing in defeat. Women are mysterious creatures who knew everything after all- or at least that's what Athena had told him.

"I'm scared okay?" He was ashamed to admit it, but it was true. He had been terrified of the next day's trial since the moment Trucy was arrested. Terrified of failing. "I'm scared that I'll fail Phoenix." The usage of Phoenix's first name still felt weird on his tongue, but he had recently requested that he and Athena refer to him as such when in casual conversation. Something about making the agency "feel more like a family than a business." Apollo was going to respect that wish, even in death.

Trucy frowned. "What do you mean you're afraid you're going to fail Daddy? There's no way you'll let me get a guilty verdict!"

"Oh, I know that." He worried if he sounded cocky or arrogant as the words left his mouth. "But what if we can't find the real killer? If he really was killed by a member of the Phantom's organization, they could be long gone by now. What if we never find out who did it?"

Silence befell the three of them as the possibility of a cold case set in. They were going to enter the colosseum as a team of scrawny peasants to go up against the champion gladiator. The chance of finding Phoenix's true killer was slim to none, they all knew that, but none were willing to admit it.

"Well we have to try!" Maya said in determination. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out in a semi humorous fashion. "You wouldn't believe the amount of cases Nick and I went into with next to nothing and we ended up coming on top." She placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled earnestly at him. "It'll be okay Apollo. Just believe in yourself. You'll be fine."

"Yeah Polly!" Trucy encouraged him. "You're Apollo Justice and you're fine!"

Laughing, Apollo smiled. They were right. Everything would be okay tomorrow. Trucy would be proven innocent and the real culprit would be caught. He was sure of it. A sense of passion and renewed hope surged through him as he nodded at his companions.

"Yeah, you're both right." He took a deep breath. He was fine. He was just fine. "I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE!" With those words, he felt the pressure and uncertainty that had been bogging him down lift from his shoulders. It was incredible how much it helped.

"Yeah that's the Apollo I know!" Maya punched him playfully in the shoulder a bit too hard. But Apollo didn't care. "Even if I did go a bit deaf in the process, I'm glad we managed to cheer you up."

Apollo was preparing a retort to the "deaf" comment but music suddenly erupted from his pocket. His phone was ringing!

"You still have Klavier's song as your ringtone…?" Maya stifled a laugh.

Choosing to ignore her comment, Apollo flipped open his phone and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Apollo!" A familiar voice greeted him. "Salut! I'm glad I was able to reach you. The reception up here is so bad you can't even begin to imagine."

Apollo grinned. "Hey Athena." The mention of his coworker's name was met by requests from the peanut gallery to put her on speaker. "Hey I'm gonna put you on speakerphone, okay? Maya and Trucy wanna say hi." And with the press of a button, Athena's voice filled the tiny room.

"Trucy? You there?" Trucy responded by saying- well more like yelling- hello. "Trucy, you've probably heard this so much today but I'm so sorry. Your dad was a great man, one of the greatest. I wish I could give you a great big bear hug right now." The solemness in her voice was so unlike her that Apollo briefly thought it was someone talking to them. But in the time it took him to think that, the peppiness returned with her next question. "So Apollo, have they got anyone in custody? Any suspects or anything? I suspect Mr. Edgeworth will be prosecuting."

The three of them exchanged uncertain glances, realizing that aside from knowing Phoenix was murdered, there was no way for her to be fully informed about the days events.

"Um Athena…" Maya was the one to speak first. "Well, about that…" She proceeded to fill Athena in on the days events since she was initially contacted. Athena stayed quiet for the whole explanation, much to Apollo's surprise. But the moment Maya stopped talking, the floodgates opened.

"WHAT? Trucy is accused of Phoenix's murder?" Apollo briefly thought about how she was probably disturbing the other passengers on the plane and silently apologized to them. "And he was investigating the Phantom and his company… That is a lot to take in."

"Yeah. I think we're in way over our heads for this one." Apollo mused aloud.

Athena laughed and Apollo could just imagine her grin. "When aren't we in over our heads Apollo?" She had a fair point.

"So Athena, will you be here in time for the trial tomorrow? Apollo and I would love the help." Maya asked the question that Apollo had been meaning to.

"Yeah actually! My flight is scheduled to get in at 11 o'clock tonight."

"Will you need a ride to your apartment from the airport?" Apollo asked.

"Nah I'll be fine. I've already reserved a taxi."

"Consider yourself lucky…" Maya muttered. Athena and Trucy laughed much to Apollo's dismay.

"But hey, I gotta go. I'm pretty sure this call still counts as international and I don't want to be charged more money than I have to be. I'll see you all tomorrow in court! Adios!" They all said their goodbyes and Apollo flipped his phone shut.

He turned to Maya, staring at her in exasperation. "I'm not that bad at diving you know."

"Yes you are, Apollo."

"Why do you think Daddy never let you drive me anywhere?"

A retort about Phoenix's inability to drive at all was on the tip of Apollo's tongue, but given the circumstances he decided to keep it to himself. He made a mental note of his counter argument, sure that he would use it some time in the future. But for now, he stayed in agitated silence.

At that moment, a guard entered Trucy's side of the room from a door on the side wall. "Visiting hours are over Ms. Wright. If you would come with me please."

She nodded, and stood up. "Bye guys! Good luck during the trial tomorrow. I know you can do it!" She smiled reassuringly at the two of them and followed the guard out of the room.

As Apollo and Maya walked out of the center, they discussed their plans for the following morning.

"Well Ema hasn't called you yet, which means we're probably going to be on our own tomorrow in terms of evidence." Maya said.

"Yeah. Hopefully the blood on the suitcase will be done being analyzed by tomorrow." He wasn't too hopeful though.

Maya bounced slightly as she walked, her robes brushing the ground lightly with each step. "I'm so excited for tomorrow's trial. I mean I'm nervous as well, but I'm also really excited! I haven't been behind the defense bench since before Nick lost his badge." Apollo detected just the slightest hint of sadness in her voice as she mentioned her friend's name. Whether it was of bitter memories of his disbarment or simply out of grief of his passing, he wasn't sure. But when she spoke again, all hints of it had disappeared. "It's going to bring back some great memories and form even better new ones, I'm sure."

"Oh hey, Maya," As they approached the car, Apollo remembered something. "Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight? You can crash at my place if you want. You can wash your robes overnight. Not sure what you'll do for pajamas though…"

"Do you have an oversized t-shirt and some sweatpants?"

"Yeah."

"That'll do just fine then!"

"Okay, good." Apollo grabbed his car keys out of his pocket and made way for the door, only for Maya to snatch them right out of his hands.

"Nuh uh. I'm not letting you drive again, especially at night. I'd rather live to see tomorrow."

"Do you even have your license on you?"

"No. But letting you drive is a public safety risk. I'm sure any police officers will understand."

Apollo didn't protest, but grumbled none the less as he got into the passenger side. He glanced once more at the detention center as Maya drove off.

Later that night, as Maya slept peacefully on the couch Apollo found himself unable to settle down. Self doubt plagued his mind about the trial. The realization that he won't wake up and go to the agency tomorrow kept haunting him. Never again would he work alongside his mentor; his whole reason for being a lawyer in the first place.

In the dim light of the room, he looked at himself in a mirror across from the foot of his bed. In all likelihood, he would be put in charge with the agency after all this was said and done. He tried to imagine it. 'Justice Anything Agency.' he thought to himself, 'Doesn't have nearly the same ring as Wright Anything Agency.'

The figure that stared back at him sure didn't look like anyone who could be in charge of an agency to him. He looked like someone who barely had any experience in the legal world and who wasn't ready to let go. Before long, Apollo found himself fighting back tears.

He briefly looked away and then back at the mirror. "I'll be fine." He said to himself. "I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'll be fine." He repeated the phrase over and over again as he stood up and walked in front of the mirror. He stared at himself with a furrowed brow. He was going to be fine. He took a deep breath and in a voice not too loud to wake Maya up but loud enough to get him energized he repeated what he had said at the detention center.

"I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine."

And as Apollo stood there having regained his confidence, he could have sworn he heard Phoenix telling him he'd be fine too.